Cultural investment welcomes golden opportunities from breakthrough policies

From unprecedented policies

The first bottleneck is the issue of planning. For a long time, many localities have wanted to supplement cultural projects but could not implement them due to planning problems, or when they needed to wait to supplement them, it took too much time and procedures, causing investors to be discouraged.

The draft Resolution on breakthrough mechanisms and policies for cultural development has focused on this issue when clearly stating that public investment projects, PPP projects, investment projects according to the provisions of the Law on Investment in the field of culture and sports need to be implemented immediately according to the direction of the Politburo, the Secretariat of the Party Central Committee, and the Government Party Committee, but not yet in the planning, they are allowed to be implemented and updated into the overall plan of provinces/cities directly under the central government and other plans when adjusted.

The Provincial People's Council decides to supplement medium-term investment projects in the field of culture and sports and supplement the approved land use plan without having to wait for the next adjustment period. The order and procedures for changing land use purposes, allocating land, and leasing land for these projects are carried out according to simplified procedures prescribed by the Government.

The highlight of the draft Resolution is to allow the implementation of PPP (public-private partnership) for sports facilities, stadiums, theaters, cinemas, provincial-level and commune-level cultural and sports centers, museums, as well as activities to restore, exploit and promote the value of relics and cultural heritage; and at the same time pilot leasing exploitation rights or transferring exploitation rights for a limited time to some cultural and sports infrastructure assets.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bui Hoai Son - Specialized Member of the National Assembly's Committee for Culture and Society - commented: "The greatest value of this policy group is the direct impact on the 3 biggest bottlenecks of current cultural investment: planning, land and procedures. In fact, many cultural projects cannot be formed or are slow to implement not because of lack of social needs, but because of planning, lack of land funds and prolonged procedures.

Not only entangled in planning, the reality over the years shows that land is always a "bottleneck of the bottleneck". Many cultural projects, despite having good ideas and investors' interest, still have to stop because they do not have clean land funds or land rents are too high. Private museums, creative spaces, cinemas or art performance centers all face a common difficulty: lack of stable premises, lack of land access mechanisms suitable to cultural characteristics.

More importantly, this policy sends a strong signal: the State not only calls for socialization, but is ready to accompany and share risks with investors. This is the "medicine of faith" that the cultural investment market is in great need of.

Creating more resources for cultural development, the draft Resolution proposes policies to apply a series of tax and fee incentives in cultural activities. Typical examples are exhibitions, art performances, film production and distribution, sports... enjoying a 5% VAT rate. This is a significant incentive level, helping to reduce service costs, increase people's accessibility, and improve revenue for businesses.

In particular, the 4-year tax exemption policy, 50% reduction in the next 5 years, even extended to 9 years in difficult areas, will help businesses "breathe" more easily in the early stages. This is an important period for the project to stabilize, build a market and brand.

Not only that, businesses investing in digital infrastructure and high technology in the fields of culture and entertainment industry also enjoy tax and fee incentives. This shows a new mindset: Cultural development cannot be separated from technology and digital economy.

A shift in cultural development thinking

Overall, this draft Resolution is not just a supportive policy package, but an important shift in development thinking.

From culture being considered a "difficult to socialize" field, it has now been placed at the center of the development strategy, with strong enough mechanisms to attract resources. If implemented synchronously, these policies will directly remove the three biggest bottlenecks of cultural investment: land, finance and profit. At that time, private capital will no longer stand aside, but will actively come to this field.

More importantly, culture will no longer be a "expenditure", but become an "investment channel", both creating economic value and nurturing the identity and internal strength of the nation.

Dr. Nguyen Huy Phong - Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics - said that the construction and completion of institutions is identified as the "key of the key" to remove bottlenecks and barriers, create motivation and new impetus for cultural development. To do this well, it is necessary to implement many synchronous solutions. In which, it is necessary to deeply understand the role of institutions, policies and laws on culture, not only as tools and means for management but also playing the role of a indirect resource promoting the development of culture.